Austin, TX

City of Austin Requires Apartments, multifamily complexes to provide composting

Published

1 year ago

October 2, 2024

City of Austin Requires Apartments, multifamily complexes to provide composting

AUSTIN, Texas — Austin is now the first city in Texas to require apartments and other multi-family complexes to provide composting to its residents.

The move is part of an effort by the city to reach a zero-waste goal by 2040.

It may just start as trash, though the end product is anything but.

“We started in 2009 out of my front yard with a half-ton Nissan pickup truck. Just a vague idea, a lot of naive optimism,” Break It Down owner Jeff Payne said. “What are we what are we doing with that food waste? How much value are recreating with it?”

Break It Down provides recycling and composting services to close to 1000 customers, mainly businesses like restaurants, and turns it into compost or fertilizer instead.

“We’re moving somewhere around 20 tons a day,” Payne said. “And to be honest, that’s kind of the tip of the iceberg.”

Payne says left alone, all that garbage becomes a big contributor to climate change.

“Food waste, when it goes into a landfill, doesn’t break down so well,” Payne said. “It’s going to tend to generate methane, which is a greenhouse gas.”

That’s why the city of Austin is now requiring multi-family complexes like apartments to provide composting services as of October 1st.

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“We can take those to composting facilities, where they are turned into nutrient-rich compost, which then can be redirected back into our communities.” Paul Bestgen with Austin Resource Recovery said.

Bestgen says composting is nothing new since it’s already offered for single-family homes and required for restaurants. But he says currently, the city is only at 40-percent landfill diversion of its 90-percent goal by 2040.

“… and so we need to be able to find different ways to get that number to move up,” Bestgen said.

Complexes which also include nursing homes and condos will have a year to comply.

“Our goal is to answer their questions, and help them overcome any obstacles that they are facing so that they can add this collection service for their residents,” Bestgen said.

But he recognizes it’ll also be a culture shift for residents too.

“You can start small,” Bestgen said. “You can start by just composting, maybe your apple cores or a banana peel.”

Payne says composting is just one small step for the home, with a big impact on the planet.

“I really only need to take the trash out once a week, and that keeps it simple,” Payne said. “And my trash can never stinks, so that’s nice.”

For a guide on what you can and can’t compost, the city has created a website here.

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Austin, TX

Will the rest of Austin allergies seasons be as bad as cedar this year?

Published

3 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Will the rest of Austin allergies seasons be as bad as cedar this year?

Austin had a particularly itchy and drippy cedar fever season to start the year. Many winter days, from late December into February, had high or very high ashe juniper (aka cedar) pollen counts.

Central Texas has a year-round allergy season with mold popping up at any time. For the more traditional spring and fall allergy seasons, forecasters at AccuWeather are predicting some of the allergens across the country will be worse this year than average.

Texas, though, is a different story.

For grass allergies, which happen now through September, AccuWeather estimates Austin will have an average season. However, just west of the Interstate 35 corridor in the Hill Country to almost El Paso, that season is expected to be worse than normal.

“Texas may experience above-average grass pollen for a few weeks,” AccuWeather’s allergy report said, “though the season could be shorter-lived compared to northern areas.”

It all depends on the weather

How much rain we get in the next six months and the perennial Texas heat will all affect the growing season for grasses and weeds, as well as the amount of pollen trees produce. The Farmers’ Almanac and the Old Farmers Almanac are both predicting a wetter and warmer spring.

Rain helps plants grow, which can increase pollen production over time. However, rainfall during allergy season can also bring temporary relief by washing pollen out of the air. That’s what we’re expecting this weekend, with our first meaningful rain chance in nearly three weeks. Tree and weed pollen levels might briefly drop, but mold could spike because it thrives in damp, humid weather.

If spring continues with excessive heat like we saw in February, it could limit the growth of some plants and trees. Extreme heat can reduce how much they grow, and how much pollen they produce. On the other hand, if we get a healthy balance of rain and only slightly above-normal temperatures — not extreme heat — pollen counts could climb. That’s especially true as we head into April, typically our windiest month of the year, which helps spread pollen more easily.

How can you treat allergies in Austin?

If you are feeling the effects of allergies, here are some things you can do to lessen them:

Start taking allergy medication at least two weeks before your allergen’s season is supposed to start. Keep taking your allergy medication throughout your allergen’s season, even on low-pollen days.
Vary your allergy medication. You can take a nasal spray, an eye drop and an oral antihistamine at the same time to treat the different symptoms. If one kind of allergy medication isn’t working, consult your doctor about whether you should add a second one or switch out the medication.
Take a shower before going to bed.
Take off outside clothes or shoes when you get into the house.
Do a daily nasal wash such as a neti pot or saline spray.
Consider seeing an allergist to get drops or shots to lessen your reaction to the allergen.

Consider these household tips to improve your chances of keeping allergens away:

Change the filters in your house regularly during cedar fever season.
Vacuum and sweep regularly.
Change your sheets, especially your pillow regularly.
Keep doors and windows closed.
Clean out the vents in your home.
Have your home tested for indoor allergens such as mold.
Wash and brush the animals in your house to lessen the amount of allergens in the air.
Wear a mask outside or inside while you are trying to lessen the pollen or mold indoors.

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Austin, TX

Texas Primary: Breakdown of Texas races

Published

15 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Democrats tried to stop a mid-decade redistricting effort, but were unsuccessful. Now, we are starting to see some of the candidates emerging in those newly drawn districts. FOX 7 Austin’s Rudy Koski gives a full breakdown.

Posted March 3, 2026 10:32pm CST

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Austin, TX

Remembering Jorge Pederson: Minnesota MMA fighter killed in Austin, Texas, shooting

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Remembering Jorge Pederson: Minnesota MMA fighter killed in Austin, Texas, shooting

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – A shooting on West Sixth Street in Austin, Texas, early Sunday morning, killed three people and injured more than a dozen others, according to the Austin Police Department. APD confirmed one of the victims was 30-year-old Jorge Pederson, a Minnesota man who worked as an MMA fighter for the Med City Fighting Championships.

“You meet tons of fighters and there are people that stand above the rest that you find you enjoy or find the most amusing,” MCFC Co-Owner Matthew Vogt said. “He was definitely one of them.”

According to Vogt, Pederson was also the owner of a Minnesota business called Metro Movers. Vogt said the MMA competitor touched everyone’s hearts since his first day of fighting professionally in Rochester.

“As soon as we met him when it was the weighing time, we just loved the guy already because he had a great mission or spirit about him,” Vogt said. “He was a funny guy and great fighter.”

Vogt told KTTC when he first saw the news that Pederson was killed, he could not believe what he saw.

“I was looking, like, ‘Wait a minute. Is this one of his shenanigans or did something actually happen there?’” Vogt said, recalling the moment he saw a social media post regarding the shooting in Austin. “I confirmed with a few people and I’m just like, sometimes, some things happen that you don’t even like, you don’t even know how to respond to it because it’s just so out of left field that you don’t immediately have a response to it.”

MCFC confirmed there is an online fundraiser dedicated to supporting Pederson’s family. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than $10,000 has been raised.

“He was someone that always could make anybody laugh,” Vogt said. “Support his family through the fundraiser and take a look at his Instagram especially to see how funny he was.”

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